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Located steps away from other Warehouse District marvels like the Armstrong Block, the five-storey Phillips Building is indicative of the commercial warehouse design that defined Edmonton prior to the First World War. Local architects Purcell and Foote engaged another Edmonton firm, Aslip and Company, to supply the building's sand lime brick. In 1913, the Phillips Building was completed and originally leased to the Western and Cartage Company.
The arrival of the railroad brought with it an influx of warehouses, constructed to store goods before being shipped regionally. The form and scale of the "made-in-Edmonton" Phillips Building is comparable with the other structures along 104th Street. Internally, the building was outfitted with fireproof doors and windows, with the intention of making it the first completely fireproof structure in the city. Originally, the building featured an arcade that provided access through the centre to the loading docks at the rear. Since shuttered, the building's two quoined centre entrances are leftovers of the original arcade.
The symmetrical west facade is defined by brick pilasters framing the recessed window bays. Just above the dentilled cornice are two stone plaques announcing the building's date of construction. This main facade was redesigned in the 1956 after purchase by James Brody, owner of Brod-Ease Show Co., who renamed the building "Phillips" after his first grandson.
Midco Equities acquired the building and the adjacent parking lot in 1981 with the goal of constructing a 25-storey office tower, but the economic slump of the early 1980s put a permanent halt to those plans. A demolition permit issued by the City in 2000 set out to reduce the warehouse to rubble and replace it with a surface parking lot. Thankfully, Worthington Properties stepped forward and saved the building from impending doom. Following a faithful restoration in 2002 by Chandos Construction, the building's new owner converted the warehouse into lofts.
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